Todays lesson there is no translation given for the dialogue. Instead, for homework, you will have to translate the dialogue using the words I have given you and the grammatical structural analysis that I have given.

I have news. I have bought the book Beginner's Maori from K. T. Harawira and I liked it a lot, especially for its price and the way it introduces grammar. As you may know, riki, it doesn't mark the long vowels, so I'd like to know if I can start posting the maaori words and sentences here so you can tell me where the macrons are.

That's the post I was referring to, riki

Learning Georgian, Mandarin Chinese, Russian and Papiamentu from scratch. Trying to brush up my Norwegian up to an advanced level.

Major difference from a pm, wouldn't you say? Yes you can start posting sentences. It may interest you to compare the unmarked form that is in the book to the marked forms on here. Then, when you see a word on here with a macron that matches the meaning of a word in your book without a macron you can just mark it with a line above the vowel to mark the length.

Initially, I mustn't have seen the post that you originally posted. As I said in the other forum, if I don't reply as fast as you'd like me to, just send a friendly pm.

T.A.M. (Tense - Aspect - Markers) are used in New Zealand Māori for verbal sentences.

I - simple pastThe 'i' particle is used for simple past constructions. It does not indicate completion of action,
and it does imply that something else has happened afterwards. Read today's story, and note
how it is used.

Kua - completed, perfected past.

This is used for all actions which are in the past and have been completed. It also implies,
that the affects of those actions can still be felt in the present.

E - simple future

This particle, e, is used for the simple future. It means 'will' or 'shall'.

E kai au i te maika - I will eat the banana.
Negator - Kaua e/hei

Negation

Kaua e/hei = don't!

The rule for negation in Māori is that the word order must go 'Negative - Subject - Verb phrase - Comment e.g.

Noa means 'freely, just, vainly'. The context that this word is postposed to the verb will define what it actually means. Refer to this Cook Islands Māori thread, with regards to it's equivalent `ua.

Ka haere noa au i tēnei whenua - I vainly/just/freely went about this land.

T.A.M. markers

Ka - Aspect marker, consecutive events

Ka, unlike Cook Islands Māori TAM 'ka', can be used in any tense. It is often used for consecutive events in a row, as, repetition of TAM is often avoided in Māori. This is called 'ka' conjunction. After, in listing consecutive events, ā is used as well. Let's look at the following examples for how 'ka' is used -

ka noho au - I will/am/ stay(ed)
ka kai au - I ate/am eating/will eat

I haere au ki Honolulu, ā, ka kai au i te poi.

I went to Honolulu and ate poi.

For more information, please refer to the Cook Islands Māori thread.

Kei te - Present tense

Kei te is the East coast version of the present continuous tense, and has been the form used so far in these lessons.

Kei te pēhea koe? How are you?

E....ana - continuous tense

On the West coast however, e action ana is preferred over kei te. E action ana is the continuous tense, and therefore, can be used in any tense since it is not restricted. For example -

e tangi ana au - I am crying, I was crying, I will be crying

All of the above are legitimate translations. Context will decide whether the e action ana is set in the past, present or future. Generally however, it is set in the present by default. To ask 'how are you' in the West coast variation, you say 'e pēhea ana koe?'. And the appropriate response will replace 'pēhea' in the phrase, for example 'e pai ana au'.In other words, in the present tense, kei te and e.....ana do the same function.

You are right about the grammar and what not. I've been working on a newer lesson that has more grammar, and should bring this up to speed with Cook Islands Māori grammar. Please be patient people, I have two essays due in this week...and then I'm free....and you have me all until summer school !

I'll try and post the 6th lesson and get some decent replies to the posts that have been made here.

The particle I, is used very much the same way in New Zealand Māori as it is in Cook Islands Māori. Below are some examples, of how i is used.
It always marks the direct object, no matter where it occurs in the sentence. There are no nominative or accusative cases in NZ Māori.

Kei te kai au i te ika.

I'm eating the fish

I in Māori marks 'te ika', 'the fish'. We see that the subject case is marked with 0 (au). The subject case and the object case, however, can be switched around to a VOS order with no change in meaning -

Kei te kai i te ika au

However, that is not the usual construction for simple sentences in Māori.

'I' also means 'for' in terms of when an item is not being possessed e.g. kei te tangi atu nei au i a koe e te whaea - I cry for you mum. Ki, can also be substituted for 'I'.

The article 'he', can not proceede the object marker 'i'. If you are going to use 'he', you must use it without the object marker 'i'.

Anaphoric Particle - Ai

Ai can be tricky for even the most diligent student of Polynesian languages. The first use of 'ai'will be the location emphasis use that it has. For example -

Ka haere atu au ki te whare wānanga ako ai

I go to university to learn there.

The bolded parts of the sentences show what 'ai' translates in to in this location emphasis construction. The underlying sentence to this is -

Ka haere atu au ki te ako i te whare wānanga.

Here. we have deleted the locative particle 'i', switched whare wānanga and ako around, and then placed 'ai' after ako to show that a change in the sentence construction has taken place.

Manner Particles - Rawa, Koa, Noa, Tonu

Tonu

This is used for actions that are continuous in nature. For example - ka whawhai tonu mātou - We will always fight, we will fight forever.

Tonu also can mean 'straight away' in a series of consecutive events - ka tae atu mātou ki Rarotonga, ka haere tonu atu a ia kia kite i a Wahine (We arrived at Rarotonga, and she went straight away to see Wahine).

Kia/Ki te complements
Kia - Considerative, be

Kia is used with verbs, and can mean 'to, be, let's'. This all depends on the context of when it is used.

The most famous example of the use of kia in Eastern Polynesian languages, is the NZ Māori greeting 'kia ora' (lit. be alive!). Kia ora also means 'get better' (in terms of wishing someone good health who is sick).

Just kidding! It wasn't that bad, I mean, if I could try to translate a reasonable English sentence out of it, that must count for something.

'I (will) understand a lot of the new words soon'

I would translate it (or rather, say it naturally) as -

'Ākuanei ka māramangia e au he maha ngā kupu hōu'.

However, the following also mean the same -
Ākuanei e māramangia ai e au he maha ngā kupu hōu'

He maha ngā kupu hōu e māramangia nei e au.

You must understand, that you undertook a mighty effort in trying to compose a sentence in Māori, which most 1st year students of Māori struggle with.

Also, the sentence you tried to produce is one not naturally heard in Māori (obviously). So, I give credit to you. There is particularly a lot of grammar that hasn't been discussed yet which will aid you in understanding why I would say that sentence the way I have in Māori. Please keep an eye out for my explanations which will come in a few days (first exam this Saturday, then I'm free for a whole two weeks).